# CVE-2019-5136: Privilege escalation in Moxa

> A low-privilege user can escape the restricted console to gain root access on Moxa AWK-3131A devices via crafted menu inputs.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Feb 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2843-q9jg-f7rg

## What is CVE-2019-5136?

CVE-2019-5136 is a high-severity vulnerability in Moxa, published on 25 Feb 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An exploitable privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the iw_console functionality of the Moxa AWK-3131A firmware version 1.13. A specially crafted menu selection string can cause an escape from the restricted console, resulting in system access as the root user. An attacker can send commands while authenticated as a low privilege user to trigger this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-5136?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Moxa Awk-3131a Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-5136?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-5136 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-5136 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-5136 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Moxa

- [CVE-2017-14459](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14459/): Command injection in Moxa (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2016-8717](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8717/): Hardcoded credentials in Moxa (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2019-5138](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5138/): Command injection in Moxa (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2019-5153](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5153/): Memory corruption in Moxa (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2019-5162](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5162/): Missing authorization in Moxa (critical 9.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-5136 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-5136 is a high-severity vulnerability in Moxa, published on 25 Feb 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-5136 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Moxa. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5136/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5136/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-5136
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5136
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-5136

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5136/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.